Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police believe an in a single day fireplace in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to house a brand new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fire early Wednesday that police believe was intentionally set — probably by someone seen running away from the building carrying what gave the impression to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the building underneath renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to supply different health care companies for women, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s present lone location for girls to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities before daybreak noticed somebody working from the building with what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police stated in a Facebook post. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the realm in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No accidents were reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and phone messages. The building had video cameras that had been functioning, and police were given access to them, she mentioned.

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas, church in 2009.

Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents at the future clinic site, and signs opposing abortion had been seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off regulation that might immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade determination that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can occur soon.

Police quickly closed off the road the place the small building is positioned as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's home windows have been broken, and smoke damage was visible round one shattered window.